Enhancing the Adoption of Quantified Self-Tracking Devices

Abstract

Over the past couple of years, quantified self-tracking wearable devices have become a promising emerging technology that can aid individuals in improving physical activities through behavior change. However, the adoption rate of these devices has not reached expectations, so researchers and practitioners have looked into ways to reduce abandonment, focusing on young or middle-aged individuals; yet little research exists on how to improve the adoption rate of wearables among older adults. Also, these wearable devices could be used as an interventional tool in an organizational context to reduce employees’ sedentary behaviors. However, driven by the impression that the devices give access to health-related data to employers, employees may be reluctant to adopt wearable devices in the work environment. A more in-depth study is needed to explore on how to improve the adoption of quantified self-tracking wearable devices in both use contexts: individual and organizational.

Therefore, this thesis explores the needs for acceptance and continued use of quantified self-tracking wearable devices, from a device characteristic perspective among older adults in the individual context, while factors influencing adoption of these technologies in the long term by individuals in the organizational context. This study employs qualitative and quantitative research to gather data from a usability and behavioral perspective.

The findings show that for older adults, it is necessary to design the external context by understanding the demographic context, which could improve the internal context and the intention to continue using quantified self-tracking wearable devices (i.e., smartwatches and pedometers). Similarly, for organizational use, the findings indicate wearability and attitude factors have a direct effect on intention to use, whereas performance and effort expectancy have only a direct influence on attitude and intention. In addition, privacy concerns and social influence have a positive influence on the intention to use both directly and indirectly through attitude. The design and device characteristics have a significant negative influence on intention to use.

Overall, the findings show how to improve the effectiveness and efficiency associated with the use of quantified self-tracking wearable devices such as smartwatches and pedometers, as well as increase user satisfaction in both the organizational and personal use contexts, especially with older adults, where there is a current need to reduce the rate at which wearables are abandoned.